Moments of laughter and lighthearted banter were shared between Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar during a press conference presided over by the CM-designate, Devendra Fadnavis, to apprise the media of the latest developments in Maharashtra politics on Wednesday.
After informing the media that the Mahayuti leaders had met the Governor on Wednesday to stake their claim to form the government, Eknath Shinde was asked if he and Ajit Pawar would take the oath as Deputy CMs along with the CM-designate, Devendra Fadnavis, on December 5. In response, the former Maharashtra CM stated that the decision would be clarified in the evening and urged everyone to wait until then. Playfully, Ajit Pawar chimed in and told the media personnel, “I don’t know about him, but I will take the oath.”
Ajit Pawar's remark was immediately followed by laughter, making Eknath Shinde to quip, "Dada has the experience of taking oaths both in the evening and in the morning."
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MahaYuti submitted a letter to stake claims for the government formation to the Maharashtra Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan on Wednesday.
The Shiv Sena chief leader Eknath Shinde and NCP President Ajit Pawar gave their letters supporting Devendra Fadnavis as the Chief Minister after he was unanimously elected by the BJP legislators as the legislature party leader.
Thereafter the Governor has invited the MahaYuti to form the government.
Fadnavis told reporters that the swearing-in would take place on Thursday at 5.30 pm in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, adding that other BJP allies and independents also gave letters supporting him as the Chief Minister.
Fadnavis said that he met Eknath Shinde on Tuesday and urged him to be part of the government.
"I am sure that he (Shinde) will accept my request. Similar appeals have been made by the Shiv Sena legislators. During two and half years, we Eknath Shinde, Ajit Pawar and myself together took decisions for Maharashtra's development. We will decide by late evening how many ministers will take oath tomorrow," Fadnavis said.
"I am thankful to the PM for giving me an opportunity to serve the state. I also thank Home Minister Amit Shah, party president J.P. Nadda and Union Minister Ramdas Athavale for their support," added Fadnavis.
Ajit Pawar clarified that he had visited Delhi not to meet Home Minister Amit Shah. "It was purely a private visit," he said.
Meanwhile, Ajit Pawar confirmed that he would take oath tomorrow.
"We will work together to develop Maharashtra. We have experience helping various sections. The Centre is with us. There is a huge majority. There is no scope for any possibility of discontent. We will make efforts to fulfil all promises given to the people ahead of the Assembly election," said Pawar.
Caretaker Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said that the Governor has given the permission to form the government.
"I invite all for tomorrow's swearing-in function. I respect the requests made by Fadnavis for joining the government. Five years ago Devendra Fadnavis had made a recommendation to the Governor for me to become Chief Minister. Today, I have extended Shiv Sena's support to Devendra Fadnavis as the Chief Minister. I had already said that I will abide by the decision taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the government formation," the caretaker Chief Minister said.
Shinde said that Maharashtra had never witnessed a landslide victory earlier, adding that MahaYuti got a mega mandate.
"We as MahaYuti partners were working together as a common man's government. We took decisions for welfare and development schemes. The projects stalled by the Maha Vikas Aghadi government were revived. We made efforts to transform the lives of the common man," he added.
Shinde also thanked PM Modi, Amit Shah, Nadda and the Centre in general for helping the state government for expediting the development process.
